Finishing road



9, 1966 J. (sumo 324,710

FINISHING ROAD Filed Oct. 16, 1963 f T TH &

5 Sheets-Sheet 1 J. GUEDO FINISHING ROAD Aug. 9, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed Oct. 16, 1963 J. GUIDO FINISHING ROAD Aug 9, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 5Filed Oct. 16, 1963 United States Patent 6 Claims. (or. 29-33 Theinvention relates to a finishing road with a workpiece slidedisplaceable intermittently along a straight guide and with at least onemachine tool bed located at every machining station perpendicularly tothe road and adapted to receive one machining or processing unit.

The series production of industrial products has recently been changedin that manner that the separate machining of the workpieces in distinctshops, such as the milling, turning, planing, drilling shops and thelike has been abandoned, and the production is carried out in optimumsuccession on a so-called finishing or transfer road. The machines, andmainly the machine tools are arranged along this road on either sidethereof next to one another and equidistantly spaced. The resultingreduction in the transportation of the workpiece and the saving in thechucking times for the workpieces which need to be mounted only once ledto a considerable acceleration and rationalisation of the entiremanufacture.

However, these known finishing roads have the serious drawback that theyare adapted only to receive one certain workpiece. Once the machineshave been distributed, set and adjusted in their beds, a later change ofthe production to another or modified workpiece requires considerableexpenditure for the new setting up and readjustment. Machine beds whichhad been set up in their foundations must be detached and the newmachine beds must be aligned and embedded. In view of the manydetachable connections between the workpiece clamped on the workpieceslide of the finishing road and the tool fixed in the machining part ofthe machine tool, this alignment is very extensive and can be carriedout only by highly qualified labour.

Furthermore, the hydraulic system and the automatic electric circuitsmust also be adapted to this new programme of the unit. Also very oftenthe mounting of the workpiece and its fixing no longer agrees with therequirements of the new workpiece to be machined so that structuralchanges must be made also in this respect, and the new arrangement mustbe tested.

In consequence of these drawbacks, finishing roads are nowadays onlysuitable for large series of uniform parts and desirable modificationshave often to be abandoned, owing to the extensive and expensiverearrangement of the finishing road which would be necessary.

The present invention aims at eliminating these drawbacks and atproviding a universal finishing road suitable also for smaller series,making possible a change in the. production programme and in themachining units with their beds quickly and with a minimum ofexpediture.

According to the invention, this object is realized in that the guidefor the workpiece slide consists of longitudinal sections, eachassociated with one of the adjacent machines and comprising thenecessary centering and clamping points for the slide, whilst allmachine tool beds are located and easily detachably mounted on aprofiled bar or the like, forming part of the finishing road.

The substantial advantage of this construction is that the individualcentering and clamping points remain connected with the associatedmachine bed always in the same way so that a change in the productionprogramme does not necessitate a new adjustment between the machine bedand the associated fixing point for the workpiece. In addition, thecentering and fixing at all ma- Patented August 9, 1966 "ice chiningstations is effected only on the workpiece slide so that the centeringand clamping can be effected without regard to the configuration of theworkpiece itself. It is only necessary to align and mount the workpieceonce before the start of the machining, as already known in the art.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, each section of the guide isrigidly connected with a pair of machine beds with the such beds locatedon opposite sides of the guide, each such pair of machine beds beingguided and located by means of two parallel profiled bars of thefinishing road. This arrangement has also the further advantage that theindividual machine beds no longer require special foundations on eitherside of the flowline.

According to the invention it is suflicient to bolt each bed or pair ofbeds to a support provided for this purpose which also carries theprofiled bars or bars. Thus, these supports arranged side by side alongthe fininshing road remain in their positions, and only the pairs oftools bolted thereto are exchanged for machines with the appropriate bedlength according to the programme, so arranged that manufacturingprogramme can be carried out. Here it is important that this exchangerequires no adjustment apart from the simple alignment of the beds inthe axial direction of the road, because the centering and clampingpoint associated therewith remains on the pair of machine beds itself.

According to a further feature of the invention, the' successivesupports of the finishing road are detachably connected also in theirlower zones. This results in an extraordinarily rigid bed for the entireinstallation which no longer requires special foundations. An existingfinishing road may be easily shortened or extended if a new programmerequires less or more operations than the previous one.

Further features of the invention relate to other struc tural measuresof the new finishing road which simplify and cheapen the manufacture andadjustment of the entire installation.

The invention will be further described, by way of example, withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows the finishing road according to the invention indiagrammatic side elevation;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section of the road of FIG. 1 along the line IIII(showing only the parts visible along this cross-section, the road beingslightly modified compared number of pairs of machine tool beds 3' whichmay be fitted on these profiled bars 2 by means of grooves 3 andconnected by bolts with the supports 1. The first (starting) support andthe last (finishing) support 1 have also special, similarly fixedmachine beds 4 and 5; the machine bed 4 carries also a hydraulicinstallation, not shown in detail, for the workpiece advance, asexplained in detail fiurther below and an associated electrical controlapparatus 6, whilst the machine tool bed 5 carries a shock-absorber 7,adapted to receive the workpiece (not shown) arriving at the end of thefinishing road.

As may be seen more clearly from FIGS. 2 and 3,

a a each pair or machine beds :3 has two opposite machine beds 3n and3b, between which there is located along the lateral centre plane of thepair otmachine beds and thus along the vertical longitudinal centreplane of the road, a

rigid guide for the workpiece slide 9, consisting of two guides 8." Avertically displaceable indexing pin is mounted along the verticalcentre lines of the guide and of the entire pair of machine beds, andtwo clamping jaws 11 are provided in the, longitudinal direction of thepair of machine. beds 3 in appropriate recesses of the two guides 8, sothat they may be moved downwards from their.

normal position flush with the guides 8,.in order to clamp the workpieceslide 9. In addition, each pair of machine beds 3, the length of whichmay differ in accordance with the requirements of the machining units(not shown) has,

lateral recesses 12 within the zone of the guides 8 which servefor theremoval of the chips.

Each-pair 3 of machine: beds may be bolted together with the associatedsupport 1 on both sides of the pro filed bar 2 by means of screws orbolts 13. In addition, the successive supports 1 are detaohablyconnected one tothe other in their lower zones at the points 14 (FIG; 1)by means not shown in detail. pairs 3 of machine bed-s are boltedtogether by connections 15, as shown in FIG. 4; these connections maybedisconnected simply when a pair of beds has to be ex-;

changed.

A horizontal conveyor chain 16 is located in lower recesses of thesupport 1, extending between the first and last support 1 and serving toreturn the workpiece slide 9,

afterthe same has arrived at the end of the road and the workpiecehas'been detached therefrom. To enable the workpiece slide to carry outits circuit automatically,

a space corresponding substantially to one processing sta tion is lefttree between the, first and second, and between the penultimate and lastsupports 1, bridged merely by thev profiled bars 2 andat the'bottom bythe connections 175 Furthermore, the first support 1 is equipped with acar? riage 19 vertically displaceable in a guide 18, and a similarvertical guide 20 with a further carriageZl isl-ocated on the lastsupport; these two carriages are vertically displaceable between thereupper position (FIG. 1) and a.

lower position, in which guides So on these carriages and similar totheguides 8, are slightly below the upper run:

of the chain 16.

The hydraulic installation in the machine bed 4 serves also forsupplying a forwarding cylinder 22 in which a forwarding piston (notshown) is displaceable by an amount corresponding to the length of oneprocessing step in the direction of the movement of the workpiece slideiThis hydraulic installation is also used for operating the indexing pins10* and the clamping jaws 11 in accordance with the programming of thecontrol device 6, through.

conduits provided in the machine beds 3 and through conduits 23connecting the pairs of machine beds 3 (see FIG. 1

1) and through the connections 15 (see FIG. 4).

F or operating the finishing roads, machining units (not shown) aremounted on the individual machine beds 3a.

and 3b by means of T-slots provided for this'purpose,;in such a mannerthat the required machining may be ef-. :tected with the workpiece inits position. With this assembly, the correct relative position betweenworkpiece and tool results from the integral connection between the.

Finally,. the individual to a workpiece carriage or slide 9 and thenplaced with this slide on the carriage 19, located in its upperposition.-

In addition, the successive positions in the direction of advance of theworkpiece slide 9' are each occupied by an 4, empty workpiece slide,untilonly the lett carriage, 21, in FIG. 1 remains unoccupied.

Then the ,whole installation is started-up by switching I on thecontrol. mechanisrn6,- causing the piston in the cylinder- 2210 beadvanced. in 'the .feed direction of the 7 road by the length of oneworkpiece slide-that is to say, by

the amount of one finishing step. The workpiece slide 9 carryingthefirst workpiece has now reached the first processing station whilstthe empty workpiece slide, pre-.

viously opposite the last station has now been moved into the carriage21 and is held there by the shock absorber-7.

This shock absorber forms simultaneously a stop by means I of which thesucceeding, abnttingcarriages. 9"are held at their respective processing.stations'with vsutlicient .accuracy. The exact alignment of theworkpiece carriages 9' at the individual processing stations is ettectedby means of the indexing/pins 10' which aremoved 'by-the' controlmechanism 6 and the hydra ulicqinstallation slightlytowards the top andengage: into conical bores (not shown) of t-heL WOIkpiececarriages 9,located above .them.: During the. next control stage, the clamping jawsassociated: with each pair 3 otmachinebeds are moved downwardly and thecentered carriage '9 isjnow firmly clamped against theguides 8 of thepair 3 of machine beds- After this clamping, the control mechanismfiissues a further impulse whereby the operation of the machining unitslocated on the tool carriagesila and 3b is initiated.

During this processing a new workpiece slide :9 is fitted on thecarriage 19 in front of the advancing piston which has now returned toits starting position and the emptyslide 9 on the carriage. 21 islowered therewith on to the conveyor chain; 16. When the work otallprocessing units along there-ad has been completed, i this fact iscommunioated to the control device bya further impulse, causing firstthe clamping. jaws of all working positions to be. retracted and theindexing pins lfl to be lowered into. their 1 liberating position: Thenthe nextstep maybe initiated.

During the following second advancemovement 'ot the,,

advancing piston, the workpiece, carrier 9 reaches the second processingstage, and .the still empty workpiece carrier '9, now facing the lastpositionis now placed on the 1 carriage .21 which has meanwhilebeen-returnedto its top.

position and is again aligned .by the shock absorber '7.

The workpiece may now be processed by the second set of tools, afterclamping and fixing the workpiece carriage The workpiece; may again beagain as described before. machined or processed fromboth sides and thisaction continues. until itireaches, in its turn, with its carriage 9 5the carriage 21; Here it is'detached from the workpiece slide 9'during,the machining of. the next part and the empty workpiece carrier travelswith the carriage 21 in a downward direction and is deposited 'on theconveyor chain; .the conveyor chain transports this slide 9 again tovthe starting point where it is received by the carriagev 19 z Thiscarriage 19 lifts the empty workpiece carrier 9 to the top and the whichis now in its bottommost position.

nextworkpiece, is mounted, allowing the cycle to continue.

If the correct clamping of the workpiece should require more time thanis available between the individual processing steps, the .carriage19may naturally also be supplied. from a separate clamping position :forthe WOIk pieces (not shown) which receives the empty workpiece slidesfrom the conveyor chain 16.

If aprocessing programme is to, be changed, the required 1 readjustmentsmay be effected extraordinarily quickly.

This change is eiiected merely by detaching the .entire unit or the pairof units with the associated pair 3 of machine beds, forming togetherone or two independent.

machine tools, from the past station by slackening the bolts 13 .and theconnection 15, and moving it to the new position. Neither need afoundation be dismantled nor a supportl be moved.

If it is'desired, for example, to extend the finishing road, this mayalso be eilectedwithout extensive alterations. First, the; individualpairs- 30f machine beds are .dis-

mantled from the support 1 and the machine bed 5 with support 1 at theend of the finishing road. is moved forward by an amount allowing anumber of new supports 1-- corresponding to the number of new processingstages to be fitted between the penultimate support 1 and the connectioncarrier 17 to the last remaining support. If the length of the hithertoused profiled bars 2 is insufiicient, new and longer profile bars mustbe inserted. In addition, the conveyor chain 16 must be extended, butalso this may be efiected easily, say, by inserting additional links.

Then the new pairs of machine beds, corresponding to the alteredprogramme, are bolted to their appropriate supports 1 and connected bythe connections with the hydraulic installation; when this is completed,the new, extended finishing road may be put into use with a largernumber of wprkpiece carriers-9.

Although with presently used machining units a change of the workingposition requires also a further expenditure, connected with thedisplacement of the hydraulic installation and with the electricalconnections to the power source or the like, it must be pointed out thatalso here new proposals facilitate and accelerate this changeconsiderably. In this manner it is possible to carry out even extensivealterations of a finishing road without specialized labour andespecially qualified electricians, for example, merely by means ofelectric sockets 26 provided on the supports 1 for connecting the sameto the mains through a fuse box 27 and a main switch 28, even though,for example, the hydraulically controlled movements and the requirementsofhydraulic fluid at the working position should change considerably.

Obviously, the invention is not restricted. to the described finishingroad in all its details. Thus, for example, every centering and clampingposition could be associated with only one machine tool bed withoutthere- :by departing from the principle of the invention.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for facilitating the accurate progressive machining of aplurality of work pieces and for facilitating the substitution oraddition of different machining operations, said apparatus comprising aplurality of up right supports disposed in spaced side-by-siderelationship and detachably secured together, each support having a pairof spaced upwardly opening grooves, the grooves in all of said supportsbeing in alignment, a pair of accurately machined bars disposed in saidgrooves with a portion of each bar projecting above the upper surfacesof said supports, at least one machine tool bed secured to the uppersurface of each support and disposed transversely of said bars, each bedhaving a pair of spaced downwardly opening grooves tightly receiving theprojecting portions of said bars to accurately position each bed withrespect to the adjacent bed, each bed serving to receive and support themachine tool to provide successive machining stations, a guide on eachbed between said bars, said guides being in alignment, a plurality ofwork piece carriers slidably received on said guides, and means on eachbed for centering and clamping a carrier for machining of a work piececarried thereby.

2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which a pair of machine toolbeds are secured to the upper surface of each support and disposedtransversely of said bars, each pair of beds being accurately positionedby said bars, each pair of beds serving to receive and support a pair ofmachine tools disposed on opposite sides of said guide, each carrierserving to hold a work piece for machining by each pair of machinetools.

3. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which said centering andclamping means is hydraulically operated, each bed having passages forsupplying pressure fluid to said centering and clamping means, and meansfor securing adjacent beds together, said last named means alsoproviding communication between the passages in adjacent beds.

4. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 and including hydraulic means forintermittently advancing said carriers along said guides.

5. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 and including a shock absorberdisposed adjacent the guide on the last bed for yieldably stoppingmovement of a carrier on said guides after completion of the lastmachining operation.

6. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 and including conveyor means forreceiving a carrier after completion of the last machining operation andreturning such carrier to the guide for the first machining operation.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS RICHARD H. EANES,IR., Primary Examiner.

